March 15, 2012
Dear Everyone:
We’ve had a lovely spot of rain lately.
Much appreciated here on the edge of a desert.
Over the past few weeks I have acquired (at sale
prices, of course) three new pairs of pants, all of which required
shortening. Even so-called
“petites” are always too long, so looking for them is pretty much a
waste of time. Better to get
the right size and plan to whack six to eight inches off the bottoms of
the legs.
The only exception, at this point in time, is
something called “crops”, also known as (aka) “capris” and once known as
“pedal pushers”. Basically,
these are “casual” pants that have a shorter hem that ends around the
lower calf on “ordinary” people.
On short people, they tend to be ankle-length, which is, of
course, perfect.
But “perfection” is hard to find, hence the need to
replace the hem.
Not that this is any great hardship, you
understand. It just takes a
few hours of time and the right tools for the job; to wit:
A needle and thread.
Also a tape measure, sewing gauge, tailor’s chalk or specialized marking
pen, ironing board and iron, scissors and lots and
lots of straight pins.
All of which I have in my “sewing kit”, including
an old shoebox filled to overflowing with many, many spools of thread.
How many? Dozens and
dozens of spools of thread.
You see, when you work on a “sewing project”, you
always get “enough” thread for the job.
Don’t want to have to drop everything and run out to buy more
thread just as a project is approaching the finish line.
Then, when the project is completed, you put the “leftover”
spool(s) of thread in the “sewing kit” for “just in case”.
Just in case a button ever needs to be sewn back
on. Just in case a tiny
repair of some kind is needed.
Just in case you ever need that exact color of thread again.
You never know, you know?
As for the “projects”, I used to wear hand-tailored
silk and wool suits to work every day.
Had a week’s worth of them.
And enough hand-made silk blouses to go with them.
Used to wash and iron those silk blouses every weekend.
Ah, the Good Old Days!
So, when I needed to hem the aforementioned new
pants, it was just a case of going through the old shoebox to find the
right color of thread. Which
is when I took a really good look at the contents of that shoebox.
Spools and spools of thread.
Who needs so much thread?
The clothes that they went with are long gone; so why do I still
have the matching thread?
Cotton thread; polyester thread; cotton-polyester blend thread; even
silk thread.
Do I really need to keep silk thread, when I no
longer own any silk garments?
Will I ever need to hem a pair of silk pants in Apple Green?
If so, somebody shoot me.
Who needs upwards of ten spools of “light tan”
thread? When three of them
are the
exact same shade of “light
tan”? White and black
thread, sure. You always
need white thread for something.
Ditto black. Besides,
they were on sale. I had
spools that still showed the original price:
45¢
Nevertheless, it was time to become ruthless.
Dozens of spools went into the trash.
The shoebox now contains only one layer of spools in the most
basic of colors (not including every possible shade of blue, of course.)
And if, in the future, I need some thread that’s
not in the box, I can always run out and buy more, right?
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |